Time for another episode of vintage Covina photo sleuthing! Got ahold of another uncommon postcard of Citrus Avenue recently for which I hoped to pinpoint a date.
It's unused, so there's no postmark to give us a ballpark estimate. Just eyeballing the cars, though, I could tell it was from the Forties, but when, exactly?
Looking north on Citrus Avenue...
...from Workman Avenue:
...and from Badillo Street:
But when?
Whenever I find a picture of old Covina that I've never seen before–like this one from a postcard–I enjoy trying to figure out exactly when it was taken.
Just eyeballing the cars and the star-spangled bunting hanging over Citrus, my first thought was the photo might be from a 4th of July in the late 1920s. The postcard was mailed April 28, 1930, so obviously the photo couldn't have been taken any later than that.
I also recognized signage seen in this earlier post showing Citrus Avenue in the mid-Twenties (below)–in particular the McPeake cigar sign at 125 N Citrus–so I knew I had to be looking at sometime between 1925-1929.
Looking more closely, I noticed a distinctive roof line, just barely visible in the distance. Known as the Logan-Stead Building in my day, this was the earliest view of Citrus I could remember seeing it there.
So when was it built? Searching the online archives of the Covina Argus, I found out that site-clearing for what was originally known as the Oddfellows Building had commenced in July, 1929,1 so that ruled out Independence Day of that year. Then I thought it might be Armistice Day–what we now call Veterans Day–but that didn't become a national holiday until 1938. So if it wasn't July 4th or Armistice Day, why all the patriotic decorations?
This called for a much closer look. Examining my 1200dpi scan, I could make out some diagonal LETTERS near the top of the center banner:
A-ha! Seeing "DEDICATION" there brought to mind one of the first photos of old Covina that I ever added to my digital collection, also of that same building:
No date on it, but it clearly shows the dedication ceremony of the new Oddfellows Building, and there, strung across Citrus, can be seen banners identical to those in the original postcard photo!
So now I feel virtually certain that my mystery picture was taken during the first week of December, 1929, immediately prior to the official opening of the Oddfellows Building on December 7:2 94 years ago today.
The Oddfellows Building was purchased by Thomas P. Logan and Sam Stead in 1941.3 For many years thereafter, it housed Logan Hardware and several other retail businesses, and was a meeting place for a number of fraternal organizations and service clubs.
In its final years, the structure fell into disrepair and was ultimately abandoned. It was destroyed by arson and the site cleared in the early Nineties.4
The northeast corner of Citrus and Italia today:
I really must apologize for the long hiatus. There were so many things I had in mind to write about Covina history this year, but the business of life has kept me almost continuously occupied. I hope to do better in 2024.
References:
1 Covina Argus, July 12, 1929, p.1.
2 Covina Argus, November 29, 1929, p.1.
3 Covina Argus-Citizen, November 29, 1946, p.1.
4 Bob Findley on the "I Grew Up In Covina" Facebook group.
Newspaper clipping courtesy Newspapers.com.
Because I live 700 miles away, I don't get to visit Covina very often. Last week, however, I was in L.A. for some eye appointments, and while in the area I spent an afternoon driving and walking around my old home town.
The last time I was here, Citrus Avenue had been transformed into an outdoor dining area which shall we say was not exactly conducive to sightseeing. So I was pleased to now see that the main street had returned to normal; or at least normal for Covina in this day and age.
In this previous post about the opening of the Covina Theatre in 1921, I remarked that I didn't have a photo of the place in the 1920s. Well, I do now! Judging by the car license plates, it was taken in 1924.
At first glance, it appears the theater does not yet have a marquee. However, on higher magnification, the longer panels on the canopy can be seen to spell out C-O-V-I-N-A--T-H-E-A-T-R-E. Although not very visible in the daytime, it's likely those panels were made of glass and were backlit by light bulbs in the evening.
In the Thirties, both the theater marquee and the building's exterior facade were upgraded to a more modern appearance.
Ad announcing the Grand Opening of the Covina Theatre, which appeared in the Covina Argus newspaper on December 16, 1921.
Transcription of the accompanying news article:
Out with the old and in with the new! Looks like the old Star Theatre had its last showing on Thursday, December 15th, and the new Covina Theatre opened unofficially the next day. Also, it appears "[A] Midnight Bell" was actually the very first feature shown in the brand new venue; "Bits of Life" being the Grand Opening bill-topper.
I've never been able to find a good photo of the Covina Theatre in the 1920s, so I guess, like so many other things these days, all you get to see is ads. :-)
The Covina Theatre was demolished completely in 2004. Nothing of it remains today. The performing arts center there now is an entirely new building from the ground up.
Postcard view of Citrus Avenue north from Badillo Street in Covina, California, in Fall, 1954. which just happens to be when I was born here. I can peg the date because both films on the Covina Theater's marquee are from 1954, and the later of the two–"Down Three Dark Streets"–was released on Sep. 2. It might be as late as early November, though, because of the snow in the mountains and the ladies wearing winter coats. It can't be after Thanksgiving, however, otherwise Citrus would be decked out in its traditional Christmas decorations!
